'Rumours of persona non grata baseless'

NEW DELHI: Nepal Foreign Ministry today called the rumours coming about persona non grata to the Indian Envoy Ranjit Rae in Nepal as 'baseless'.

Earlier in the day, Nepal's Ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyay continued to stay put in his post here, two days after his country's government was said to have ordered his recall, and was reported to have denied he had colluded with India to topple the K P Oli dispensation back home.

Though no formal announcement was made about Upadhyay's recall by the Nepalese government, reports emerging from Kathmandu quoting unnamed Foreign Ministry officials said he was being recalled because of his alleged role in the power struggle that nearly deposed Oli’s government.

His non-cooperation with his country's Foreign Ministry and a reported visit to the Terai region with Indian Ambassador in Kathmandu Ranjit Rae recently were also cited as reasons for the decision.

However, earlier in the day, the Nepalese envoy reportedly rejected the charges, saying he did not conspire with the Indian government to bring down Prime Minister K P Oli-led coalition rule in Nepal.

He also denied having visited the restive Madhes region in Nepal's foothills with Rae.

Nepal had yesterday cancelled the visit of its President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to India hardly 72 hours before her departure for Delhi. Though no reason was assigned for cancellation of the trip, it was believed to indicate Nepal's unhappiness with India over the latter's alleged meddling in
the internal affairs of the Himalayan nation.